On this addition of The old school wrestling review we take a look back at WWF survivor Series 96 ppv but first we take a quick look at Shawn Michaels first WWF title regain. As well as Bret Hitman hart returning to the WWF for the first time since wrestlemania 12, the sudden rise of stone cold steve austin, the wwf signing foley and the noteable debut of future Hollywood and wrestling superstar Rocky Maivia (The Rock/Dwayne Johnson).
On the road to Survivor Series
Poor old Shawn Michaels his boyhood dream may very well have turned into a nightmare during this period. Shawn was not a success on top as WWF champion (sorry to say that, but it's true), his firsts major title defence was against the bound for wcw Diesel (Kevin nash). Wwf in your house 7 good friends better enemies which drew just over 9,000 people to the Omaha Civic Auditorium in Omaha Nebraska and an 210,000
ppv buy rate has to be considered a success as mania 12 drew 290,000. This isn't to say the match between the two wasn't a good one in ring wise as HBK and Nash delivered a cracking performance in a no holds barred match which was a thousand times better than there wrestlemania 11 bout. The next month WWF ppv hit an all time low mainly thanks to wcw product at the time being leaps and bounds ahead of the WWF creatively speaking. WWF in your house 8 beware the dog (this ppv had to be reshot after a severe thunderstorm outside the arena caused a black out in the arena and the whole show had to be reshot 2 days later and was called Beware of the dog 2) was headlined by Shawn defending the belt against the British bulldog that drew a lousy 146,000 buys. Again the twos rematch was meet with ampathy by wrestling fans as WWF king of the ring 96 (a historic event in it's own right due to this show being the one where stone cold steve austin uttered those famous words for the first time, austin 3:16 says I just kicked your ass after winning that years KOTR tournament a tournament that triple h was originally suppose to win but didn't after the famous curtain call by the kliq) only drew around 197,000 ppv buys. WWF in your house 9 international incident also fairly poorly received by fans and critics alike with only 122.000 ppv buys with the being main event a rather average six man tag as camp cornette the team of Vader, Owen hart and the British bulldog beat the team of Michaels, Ahmed Johnson and Sycho Sid. WWF summerslam 96 was another failure with only a 194,000 buys on ppv with Shawn on top defending his WWF title against Vader. This feud was quickly nixed by Shawn according to Jim cornette due to his moaning like a spoilt child over how stiff Vader was, but according to reports Vader was stiff with everyone and if you've seen Vader wrestle (espiecally his matches in japan) then you know this to be true. WWF switched gears for WWF in your house 10 mind games as Shawn put on a clinic with mankind in the main event but again due to wcw now dominating the game the ppv only drew 162,000 ppv buys. The next month for WWF in your house 11 buried alive Shawn was feed another mid carder to beat as he disposed of Goldust in 13 minutes to retain the WWF title and you guessed it the ppv buy rate suffered because of it only doing 136,000 buys. That's clear evidence that either Shawn on top as champion wasn't working or wcw was just so dominating during this period with the nWo angle that whatever WWF and HBK did wasn't going to work. My belief is this that Shawn stripper dancing and act which was more appealing to teenage girls rather an teenage boys and grown men who wanted something different at the time to what WWF and Shawn was selling as WWF champion, which leads us into survivor series perfectly with Shawn now in a feud with Sid. The two had a rather odd build to this match with Shawn accidently super kicking sid which sent Sid Sycho of course, Yes seriously that was the build for this WWF title match. Meanwhile the fed struck gold with the mentioned above austin 3:16 speech but pre KOTR 96 WWF didn't seem to take full advantage of what they had. Case in point was WWF summerslam 96 austin wrestled Yokozuna a barley mobile yoko on the free 4 all (pre show) yes he won but that's not the point I'm making the one I'm trying to make is that your new hottest star was not on the ppv no he was on the preshow where less people where likely to see him. Over the next few months austin would get a slow push mostly beating nobody's but he did notable attack brian Pillman and sent Pillman packing from WWF tv while Pillman recovered from a serious ankle break after Pillman had crashed his car while under the influence. It lead to austin calling out Bret Hitman hart who by this point was due to return to WWF after inking that massive 10 year deal which would later lead to problems between both hart and WWF in late 97. Also in July of 96 it looked like hart might join wcw and become the mysterious 4th man the nWo went on about it thoughout the July/august period on wcw nitro but Hitman resigned with the WWF at vince request. Lastly the WWF had signed mick foley to it's roster the artist formerly known as cactus jack who had wrestled for WCCW (world class championship wrestling), WCW, IWA: Japan, SMW (smokey mountain wrestling) and ECW. He Was a favourite of many hardcore fans at the time for his sick bumps and stunts he did in his matches. Foley also proved he could talk delivering his famous anti hardcore promos which really made the wrestling world sit up and take notice of him. He was a tremendous addition to the WWF roster which at the time was pretty thin on upper level mid card talent. Foley says in his book he was asked by WWF head vince McMahon to come in mason the mutilator but he got vince to reconsider the name and the character formerly known as mason the mutilator(seriously just think about that name for a minute and imagine the fink announcing making his way to the ring mason the mutilator, it doesn't have the same ring to it as mankind) who would become mankind. We were introduced to foley new character via a bunch of vignettes at aired thoughout March on WWF tv. As foley would sit in a dark room (later it was eluded to as a boiler room) pulling at his hair and screaming for his mommy and talking to his pet rat George. Foley debuted on the raw following wrestlemania 12 and defeated bob Holly over the next few weeks mankind would beat nobody of importance and then marched right into a feud with the undertaker. The first ppv match of foleys WWF career couldn't have been any bigger as at that years WWF King of the Ring mankind beat taker with the maniable claw after Paul bearer 'accidently' struck taker with the urn. At summer slam 96 taker and foley had the 1st ever boiler room brawl, the match would end with undertakers long time manager bearer turning on taker to allow mankind to pick up the win again. The two then had the 1st ever buried alive match at the WWF in your house 11 buried alive but this time taker would win.
WWF Survivor Series 96 results held in the world famous Madison square Garden New York City, ppv buy rate: 199,00.
So I was watching the wwe tagged classic version of this show and surprisingly I got the free 4 all again so I'm going to go over that a bit first. The DVD opened with a video on Bret Hitman hart as Todd pettengill did his serious Voice over it and it ended with the words saying the legend returns. Vince McMahon welcomes us to the free 4 all then before he can say anything of importance Jesse James the real double J (take that Jeff) was out singing his be my baby tonight song to silence as it was time for the opening match. Traditional Survivor Series 4 on 4 Elimination Match: Rockabilly Billy Gunn, The Sultan/with The Iron Shiek, Justin Hawk Bradshaw and Salavatore Sincere Vs Bart Gunn, Bob Holly, Aldo Montoya and Jesse James. Not very much happened here and the crowd was dead for this one thoughout and probably couldn't have been any less interested. The sultan (the future Rikishi) was also making his ppv debut under this gimmick name and he started out basically killing masked (it wasn't a mask it was a jock strap well that was what it looked like) jobber to the stars Aldo Montoya (the future Justin Credible real name PJ Palaco). Aldo was the first guy eliminated when he tapped out to the sultans camel clutch. During this match a video package aired on stone cold to which austin says he's gonna kick the hitmans ass and that's the bottom line because stone cold said so, talk about being dissed. Sincere is next to go as Bart gunn gives sincere a side walk slam to get the 1,2 and 3 over the completely forgettable sincere (his run In the WWF was lousy). We then go split screen as Dox Hendrix announces that austin vs hart would be a no holds barred match now and in walks austin who mutters something and walks off. Back to the action Bradshaw lariats Holly to eliminate the former NASCAR character. Jesse James rolls up Justin hawk for the 1,2 and 3 and is eliminated, it looked like a clear botch as hawk rolled his shoulder on two but the referee counted three. Vince on commentary covered up for the three and said I think Bradshaw was very unlucky there and I think it was the officials mistake. James sends newcomer the sultan packing with an inside cradle then rockabilly gives james a rocker dropper (fameasser) for the 1,2 and 3. So now it's down to the former partners of billy and Bart gunn to fight it out and the crowd seemed to come to life as the two so called brothers duked it out in the middle of the ring. After a few minutes of rushed spots between the two. Then in a rather flat finish Bart whips billy into the corner and rolls him up for the 1,2 and 3. Your Winner and sole survivor Bart Gunn, afterwards billy snaps and kicks out at the guardrail as some members of the audience are clearly heard laughing at billy. I would not rate this match at all it was rushed and all eight, well none of them clicked in the ring and were not over in front of this crowd. A video package airs on the feud between Sid and Shawn Michaels, back to the arena and vince asks JR who will win tonight's main event and jr says he's not a betting man but if he was then he'd put it on Shawn. To the back where Dox Hendrix is with rockabilly billy gunn this was a shouty 90's promo and I really didn't pay any attention to what gunn was saying at all because I couldn't have cared less. Back to the arena and Todd pettengill is in mid ring and vince turns it over to Todd when the lights go out. Then the undertakers voice comes booming over the PA system and he says tonight he has been reborn. When the lights return Todd has a look on his face as if he has just shit himself as vince let's out one of his fake laughs. The ppv opens proper with vince saying his unforgettable opening line of welcome everyone to the 1996 WWF survivor series. Traditional Survivor Series 4 on 4 elimination match: The British Bulldog & Owen Hart/with Jim Cornette and Clarence Mason and The New Rockers Leif Cassidy (Al Snow) and Marty Janetty Vs Doug Furnas & Phil Lafon the Can-Am Express and The Godwins Herny and Phineas/ with Hillbilly Jim. It was another debut here and this time it was for the incredibly accomplished workers of Doug Furnas and Phil Lafon. The two had quiet a reputation with hardcore fans at the time as the Can-Am Express who had held All Japan All Asia Tag Team Titles 5 times, were former ECW Tag Team Champions and former two time UWA Tag Team Champions and had won the wrestling observer Match of the year for 1992. So these two had quiet a pedigree and where now hitting the big time signing with the WWF and at the time word was vince had big plans for these two and an eventual feud with the British bulldog and Owen hart but let's not get into that right now. Before the bell there is some rowdy fans in the front row who Davey, Owen and snow are more than happy to exchange some words back and fourth with these fans. The bell rings and it's Marty taking on new comer Lafon and the newcomer seems to be a tad bit nervous. Cassidy is in as he gives Lafon a excellently exucuted German suplex and dragon screw leg whip. Lafon tags in Phineas who brawls with Leif and Marty, Phineas let's Leif tag in the bulldog and that would prove to be his downfall. As Davey and Owen double team Phineas, Marty is back in and he gives Phineas a nice looking back spinning elbow smash. Now a heel Marty taunts the crowd as Herny gets tagged in who gives Marty a slop drop and Marty is eliminated. Owen is in now and he gives Herny a flying forearm smash and pins Herny for the 1,2 and 3 and Herny is eliminated. Bulldog is back in after tagging Owen and he is attacked by Phineas but Phineas does not last more than a minute as Davey scoops him up and gives Phineas a running powerslam for the three and the Godwins are gone. It's now 3 on 2 and time for the can-am express to steal the show but that doesn't happen as it seemed they choked on there big debut. Furnas gives bulldog a nasty looking hip toss and botches his trademark dropkick then Furnas botches a small package and this is where you hear vince giving up on this team on night one. As he says I can understand that Furnas has butterfly's in his stomach but he also seems to have cobwebs in his head (oh dear) and it's not to say the can-am express weren't excellent here they were it's obvious nervs got the better of them here to Furnas more than Lafon though. Lafon is tagged in and eliminates Leif with a exploder like German suplex from the top rope (oh boy that looked impressive) as jr puts over the can-am guys on commentary. Owen and Lafon have a clear chemistry as Owen gives Lafon a swinging neck breaker, a top rope elbow drop and a powerslam which all flowed so effortlessly between the two. Davey clearly kicks Lafon in the nuts which has vince crying a foul at ringside and as this was right in front of referee that was smart for him to say that as he's covering up for another referee error. After serval minutes of some very good back and fourth action Lafon gives Davey a crucifix pin to send Davey packing. It's now down to Furnas and Lafon 2 on 1 with Owen. Owen attacks a dazed Lafon and wraps lafons leg around the ring post and back in the ring gives Lafon a dragon screw leg whip. Owen slaps on a rarely seen Indian death lock but Owen gets up and readjusts himself and then sits down and Lafon is in the sharpshooter but Furnas saves his partner by attacking Owen. Hot tag by Lafon to Furnas after Lafon gives Owen an enzuigiri. Furnas gives Owen a shoulder block and his picture perfect dropkick. Furnas follows it up with a fall away slam and then another exploder German suplex to get the 1,2 and 3. Your Winners and sole survivors Doug Furnas and Phil Lafon. Afterwards jr has nothing but praise for the newcomers while it's clear vince may be having seconds thoughts on these two only minutes after there fed debuts and that's a shame because originally these two were due to win the WWF tag team titles at mania 13 but by then they would be back in ECW and in two years the two would split up. This team of Furnas and Lafon was a criminally underrated tag team of the nineties in my opinion. As for the match itself I really enjoyed this and At least 5 of the wrestlers busted there ass to make this a match I would recommend you go out of your way to see. Moving on now as we shoot to a pre tapped vignette of rocky Maivia with Kevin Kelly in MSG. Kelly asks rock weather he is nervous about his big debut tonight to which Maivia responds that of course he is as this is msg were his father rocky Johnson and grandfather high chief peter Maivia had wrestled and it was his responsibility to live up to his father and grandfathers legacy. Now it's into the boiler room where uncle Paul (bearer) and mankind are with kevin Kelly. Uncle Paul says he is not being suspended above the ring in a cage while mankind adds it doesn't bother me your going to be in the cage above the ring uncle Paul because I'm going to eat the undertaker alive to which Paul says yes, yes, yes. Undertaker Vs Mankind with Paul bearer suspended above the ring in a cage. The undertaker has a new entrance for this show and new attire as he is slowly dropped to the ring wearing a massive batman like Cape with batman like wings it's all very surreal. Anyway back in the ring bearer is refusing to get in the cage it isn't until taker enters the ring he goes right after Paul that bearer steps in the cage and then locks it behind him. While taker watches Paul mankind attacks him from behind and the two begin to brawl on the outside. As always with these two they have an instance brawl in and out of the ring. Takers rebirth here saw him doing things he had never done before like Firemans carries, arm bars and cross bodies no longer was the taker reliant on chokes and stall tactics here he proved he really could go because the WWF had never booked him in such a way before. Before he had slow paced matches with the likes of King Kong bundy, Yokozuna and Mabel because that was the way the story was to be told. Now with more athletic talented wrestlers taker was allowed to wrestle more longer and more athletic matches because now the script called for it. Taker worked over foleys hand by stomping on it while micks hand was on the ring steps. Taker pulled at the hand and did some sort of hand arm bar to the hand and then placed micks hand in between the ring steps and stomped on it some more. Obviously taker was trying to avoid that deadly nerv hold known as the maniable claw. Leading up to the finish taker went for the chokeslam but as he raised mick up he hooked on the maniable claw which taker nearly passed out from but he battled back to get mankind to release the hold. Mankind goes back to the hold moments later but taker counters it with a chokeslam. Mick takes a sick bump onto the floor when he goes for the cannonball off the ring apron onto taker but taker moves. The finish saw mick pull out a rail road spike and mankind stabs taker in the head with it over and over until taker is bleeding. Mankind then tries to stab taker again but taker scoops up mankind and gives him a tombstone from out of nowhere and gets the 1,2 and 3. Your Winner the Undertaker, afterwards the cage is lowered and taker senses he'll finally be able to get his revenge on bearer for stabbing him in the back at WWF Summerslam 96 as the cage lowers into the ring. Taker unlocks the door as Paul cowers in the corner of the cage then the executioner (Bam Bam Terry Grody from the fablous freebirds) attacks taker from behind as Paul darts out of the cage and out of the ring into the back. Taker rids the ring of the executioner and mankind and celebrates his hard fought battle and looks bloody exhausted. This match was what was needed after the in ring activity of the previous bout was so fast not to say these two didn't go all out because they did, it was a tremendous brawl which again i'd highly recommend. Sunny comes out to the ring once taker has gone into the back as vince says she's going to be joining us here on commentary. We go to the back were triple h, Goldust, jerry the king Lawler and crush are with Dox Hendrix. Hendrix tells them mark Herny is out of tonight's match to which hunter replies good even if it was 4 on 4 those guys wouldn't have stood a chance. Traditional Survivor Series 4 on 4 elimination match Wildman Merc Mero/with sable, Rocky Maivia, The Stalker (Barry Windham) and Jake The Snake Roberts vs Triple H, Goldust/with Marlena, Crush and Jerry The King Lawler. Sunny buried sable as soon as she was on screen so I'm assuming there was heat between the two or something (my poor attempt at a joke there). Meanwhile as mark Herny is out Jake the snake Roberts is in says the wildman so that makes it fair and square right. The snakeman comes out rushing out to the ring with Damon over his shoulders and the heels go to the outside as Jake slides into the ring. Lots of stalling and working the crowd by doing nothing by the likes of hunter, goldy and the king which only infuriated the wildman merc mero. All eight men tagged in and out early on with the highlight being hunter advoiding locking up with mero. Jr made a crack about crushes stint in jail was the highlight of the first few minutes. The rock comes in like a house on fire and the crowd in MSG were very much behind this newcomer. Eventually rocky was out smarted by hunter and then all four heels took there turn to work over Maivia. Rocky then gives hunter a big back body drop and makes the hot tag to Jake. Jake is all over hunter as the crowd chant DDT then a short arm clothesline by Jake who has hunter in position for the DDT but hunter pushes Jake back into the heels corner. Jake is worked over much like rocky was earlier then as the king is standing over Jake mocking him for being hurt up pops Jake to a tremendous pop and gives the Burger King a DDT and the king is eliminated. Goldust and hunter double team some more before Jake breaks hunters chinlock with a jaw breaker and makes a freezing cold tag to the stalker (windham new gimmick was not over at all and you could hear crickets in MSG). jr and sunny were a complete distraction on commentary arguing about sable. Meanwhile back in the ring stalker is still eliciting silence then gets caught with a kidney punch by crush who was on the apron then Goldust gives windham a curtain call for the 1,2 and 3 and stalker is eliminated. Mero is in now like a house on fire against Goldust but eventually gets caught with a slingshot by Goldust and the three heels work over mero. Back out the announce desk jr has given up arguing with sunny and she is still going on about sable. Back in the ring hunter is more than happy to take advantage of downed mero and hunter works over mero for the next couple of minutes. Hunter gives mero a back breaker, crush dishes out the bear hug to mero and double team suplex by crush and Goldust to mero all the time setting up the his comeback which would surely be hot considering how badly the heels had done a number on him or so you would think but the crowd didn't seem to be into mero whatsoever. Mero counters hunters Abdormal stretch into a hip Toss but does not make the tag to his team mates instead he gives hunter a tilt a whirl headscissors and mero-sault (moonsault) to a timid reaction from the crowd and pins hunter for the 1,2 and 3. Crush comes in the ring gives mero a heart punch for 1,2 and 3. Rather odd considering how the match was booked up until that point. I thought at this point that mero would be the sole survivor but alas he was gone for some strange reason. Jake comes in and teases the DDT on crush but he reverses it and gives Jake the heart punch and he's gone now. So it comes down to the the rock vs Goldust and crush. The two heels get the upper hand on the newcomer and double team him but rock makes his comeback and gives both men a cross body. He then pins crush for a two as Goldust breaks it up, Goldust holds rocky as crush lines up his heart punch but rocky ducks it and goldy gets hit with the move. Maivia rolls up crush for the 1,2 and 3 while JR screams you can do it kid. Goldust is dazed as rocky hoist him up onto his shoulder and drills Goldust with a shoulder breaker to get the 1,2 and 3. Your Winner and sole survivor Rocky Maivia, afterwards the crowd chant Rockys name as sunny says she should have been called Adrain. For historical reason (the rocks debut) this match overall importance can not be ignored but if I was you I'd give this match a miss there is many more better traditional survivor series matches out there but this was the best traditional survivor series match on this show for sure. Up next was a video review of the feud between stone cold and Bret hart, No Holds Barred N.1 Contenders Match: Bret Hitman Hart Vs Stone Cold Steve Austin. Austin is out first to a mixed reaction from the New York crowd. We then go backstage where Todd pettengill is with the Hitman who makes light of his talks with wcw back in the summer saying he isn't greedy for money he's greedy for respect. Bret is out next and raises the roof of MSG he has so far gotten pop of the night. Vince then announces that the winner of this match will wrestle the WWF champion at the next WWF in your house ppv next month another last minute stipulation added to this match. The two of course stole the show with this match, many fans like to point to austin vs hart at mania 13 and of course for good reason. As for me I've always preferred this match to the mania 13 double turn. Well why you ask because both men busted there arse to get this match over without having to resort to blood or any over the top bumps or dives and crowd really appreciated the effort the two men put in. Early on Bret went to work on austin arm working the hammerlock, both men had a counter and reversal as they chained wrestled on the mat. Austin eventually gets the upper hand by driving the point of his elbow into the hitmans spine. Austin begins to work over the upper body and winds Bret with a stun gun. Austin stomps Bret in the corner then slingshots Bret throat first into the bottom rope. Then the two begin to slug it out and msg comes to life, both men exchange left and rights to a thunderous pop. Both men brawl to the outside and back into the ring a snapmere by austin as both men need a breather now as austin slaps on a chinlock. Bret battles back and counters Austin's Irish whip by clothes lining the Texas rattle snake. Bret gets a small package on austin for a two count then a Russian leg sweep for another two count. Austin takes advantage by whipping Bret stomach first into the corner. Austin works over brets head, jaw and chin with stomps and a chinlock. Both men take a tumble over the top rope to the outside and brawl into the crowd. Austin Irish whips Bret so hard into the guardrail the rail breaks, while on the outside austin slingshots Bret on top of the spainish announce table why jr jokes why is it always those guys who end up on the receiving end of someone crashing into there table. Austin slams Bret onto the table and goes up onto the ring apron and drives off with an elbow into brets stomach but the table didn't break. Back in the ring Bret hits a stun gun of his own onto austin and follows it up with a back breaker and what looked like a botched tiger driver or piledriver. Then austin gives Bret a massive suplex from the top rope to the mat below but only gets a two count. Stunner by austin to hart but Hitman kicks out at two as austin took a little to much time to cover him. Austin covers Bret three more times and again Bret kicks out at two. Austin is frustrated by this and makes a mistake of going for the Texas cloverleaf and Bret counters it going for the sharpshooter but Bret seems to lose his balance. Austin whips Bret kidney first into the corner but Bret falls down and slides into the ring post. Austin smells blood and goes for a bowran arrow and hooks it but Bret counters into another sharpshooter but can't quiet hook it again. Austin then slaps on a million dollar dream but bret counters it when he kicks up and his feet hit the turnbuckle pad and he falls back when the two land Bret has austin pinned for the 1,2 and 3 (yep the mania 8 finish to hart vs piper). Your Winner and new N.1 contender Bret The Hitman Hart, a exhausted Bret thanks the fans in the front row as he goes to leave the ring. I can't do this match justice here so I would highly recommend you go out of your way to catch this little gem form WWF in ring wise for 1996, can't recommend it any more if you haven't seen this one before. Moving on now as up next is another Traditional Survivor Series 4 on 4 elimination match: Yokozuna, Flash Funk (2 cold scoprio), Savio Vega and a mystery partner (superfly jimmy Snuka) Vs Vader/with Jim Cornette, Faarooq/with the Nation of Domination, Fake Razor Roman and the fake Diesel. The crowd boo the fakes as JR (who had reintroduced the fakes on raw in September) wonders why these younger and frankly better athletes are being booed, that is what JR said not me. Anyway moving onto the action, right off the bat Vader and yoko lock up and yoko who looks incredibly overweight here gives Vader a belly to belly suplex and is out of breath after just one move. The fake diesel (Kane) and the fake razor (rick boogner) elicit no reaction from the crowd actually in fact only Snuka gets a reaction when he is tagged in from the MSG faithful. Superfly slams Vader which was quiet impressive indeed but apart from that he seemed to have lost a step or two since his glory years in the 80's. Kane I mean diesel gives savio a jackknife to send him packing, Snuka no sells for the fakes (that made me laugh) and then superfly splashes Rick I mean razor for the 1,2 and 3. Diesel brings a chair into the ring and nails 2 cold and the referee declares it as a double DQ. A pointless match with a pointless finish don't go back and watch this on the network for 9.99. A video package airs on the feud between Sid and Michaels which fills like it's been thrown together at the last minute, much like this feud and match. Sid is shown walking backstage then makes his entrance and the heel is cheered (yep it's 96 alright). Shawn and Jose are shown backstage and the WWF champion elicits a few boos as well as cheers or should I say screams from the teenage girls and is mobbed by some teens in the aisle way which security have to break up. WWF World Championship TItle Match: Shawn Michaels (champion) Vs Sycho Sid. Lock up and sid just swats Shawn away with some big clubbing blows. Sid whips Shawn into the corner and pummels HBK in the corner. Shawn makes his comeback with some left and rights and then a dropkick. Michaels slaps around Sid which doesn't impress the big man who slaps Michaels hard. The two exchange left and rights and then Sid gives HBK a press slam. Sid goes for a back drop but HBK counters and slides to the outside as the crowd chant Sid's name. Chop block by HBK to sid who is booed and the look on Shawn's face is priceless. Let's go sid chants echo thoughout the hallow halls of MSG. Figure four by Shawn and again he is booed and some people chant we want flair. Sid reverses the hold but Shawn does also and the two end up in the ropes and hebner asks them to break the hold. More boos directed at the boy toy as he drives his knee into Sids back. HBK ends up going shoulder first into the ring post (that's brets spot Shawn) and Sid pummels Shawn in the corner. Sid misses a big knee and crocthes himself on the middle rope. Shawn goes to work on the knees of Sid to boos now vince and jr try to cover for Shawn by saying there is some people pulling for Sid tonight and jr says the stupidest line ever claiming these fans don't pay his grocery bill. Well JR I have to disagree with you as us fans are buying tickets, ppv, merch among other things which goes to wwe and that's what they use to pay there wrestlers. Sorry for getting off topic but that was one of the most idiotic lines I've ever heard in wrestling. On the outside sid press slams Shawn onto the guardrail and whips him into the ring apron. Sid throws Shawn back into the ring as Sid eats up the cheers from the fans in the front row. Sid covers Shawn for a two count and then gives Shawn a back body drop. Sid pummels Shawn in the corner then runs a big boot into Shawn's jaw not once but twice. Shawn is booed during his comeback but then gets caught by Sid after going for a cross body and Sid gives Shawn a back breaker for another two count. Shawn is whipped into the corner hard by Sid and then sid does it again. The most expensive baggage in WWF according to Shawn fires right hands into Shawn. HBK fires up and the two exchange left and rights as Shawn gives sid a scoop slam. Shawn gets caught with a boot by Sid to the gut and sid slaps on a sleeper. Shawn gets caught and gets choke slammed by Sid and the crowd pops big time. Sid signals for a second rather than going for the pin and goes and teases the powerbomb but Shawn counters it with an inside cradle for a very near fall indeed. Powerslam by Sid but only a two but Shawn comes back with a cross body and nip up but sid dumps Shawn with another big boot for another near fall. Sid grabs the cameramans camera and decks Jose who had poped up the apron. Sid turns around and is superkicked by Shawn, Shawn goes to the outside to tend to Jose who is holding his chest. jR doesn't say it but says Jose is down holding his chest and I think then pauses as Shawn is back in the ring and he goes to give sid a cross body but sid ducks and Shawn lands on top of that t-shirt thief earl hebner. Shawn goes back out to Jose as Sid follows out with the camera in his hand and sid decks HBK. JR then says I hope Jose isn't having an heart attack (who booked this shit). Sid powerbombs Shawn and covers him for the 1,2 and 3 and the crowd goes wild. Your Winner and New WWF Champion Sycho Sid. Shawn pulls a john Cena and acts as if losing doesn't mean anything while Jose is rushed away on a stretcher. The crowd chant sid as Sid celebrates by fist pumping the fans in the front row. In a home video exclusive Jose is shown being rushed into a trainers room as Shawn screams come on. It seems as if the EMT can't revive Jose as the show comes to an end (again seriously who booked this shit, seriously that is how you end a wrestling show teasing that Jose Lothario might be dead, that's poor taste in my opinion) Todd pettengill shows up talking in a sombre tone who raps up all the events of what had just happened, fade to black.
Round Up
Overall this show is a worthy WWF ppv espiecally from 96 when the fed wasn't exactly producing the most reverting of tv shows and pay per views but this show deserves a 6.5 out of 10 rating in my opinion. Obviously Match of the Night goes to Bret Hart vs Stone cold I would highly recommend if you haven't seen it (of course) to go out of your way to see it. The main event raised a smile on my face as Shawn looked very unhappy with the crowd for turning on him the way they did but the 1996 Version of Shawn Michaels in my opinion wasn't a very nice guy who used his powers as a star to have good wrestlers like bam bam Bigelow buried and fired as in Jean Pierre Lafitte case. Shawn deversed this reaction he was a self serving ego maniac during this period and he openly admits to being a jerk during this period in his book so at least it all worked out in the end right. Next time it's off to 1997 as we take a look at WWF in your house 16 Canadian Stampede. Also I will have a quick look at Shawn losing his smile and getting out of doing the job to Bret hart mania 13. Also the continued success of stone cold, Bret harts heel turn, the legion of doom return and WWF ending up on the losing end to wcw nitro. So thanks for reading I hope you enjoyed this long winded review and come back for more next time.
By Billy_Jay_222 @billy222me or @RantsWrestle
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